Advice on mods to install for fun SH5 experience
 

So... I've sees the screenies <droooool> and I've read the forum posts, and my local EBgames has SH5 for sale @ $15. I'm ready to dive in (pls forgive the intentional pun).

I have a fair bit of SH3 experience, and have SH4 but didn't have time to play it so much (kids, etc...). I've never modded either.

SH5 looks gorgeous and I have the rig to run it (i5 2500k, AMD 6970, 8 GB DDR3, Win 7 64) so I'm going to pick it up.

From what I've read here it seems like SH5 really has to be modded to be playable. I've read up on JSGME and it seems fairly easy to enable mods with that. I'm completely bewildered by the choice of mods available!

Ideally I'd like to download one of the "super-mod" packages, but at first glance they seem to include elements to make the game more "realistic" (i.e. difficult).

My question is which mods should I DL bearing in mind:
- eye candy is nice, and I should be able to have it on fairly high settings,
- I'm not interesting in doing any of the manual calculations for torpedo solutions,
- I don't want the escorts to become "realistic" sub killers (I find them plenty hard enough to evade as it is!)
- I'm relatively familiar with the SH3/SH4 commands.

Thanks very much in advance for any pointers on which mods/ mod packages to install,

C_G

You can check my modlist in my sig, it's up to date (ish) and has most of the good stuff on there. Install order is important so stick to that or Sober's list as best you can.

Make sure you're patched to 1.20 (should happen automatically I think) and make sure you play the tutorial BEFORE installing any mods. Check the stickies for more info.

As for not using manual, no need to worry. You'll still need the latest New UIs with TDC, but you can still use the 'round numbers on torpedo line' option in the TAI to shoot in 'easy mode'. There's another technique involving locking/unlocking targets at longer range, but I forget the link atm!

Hope my list is enough to get you started, shout if you have any questions. Welcome :salute:

Hi Orpheus,

thanks for the reply :)

Just to confirm:
first install, confirm that it's patched up to 1.20,
play and complete tutorial,
install .exe patcher and D3D anti-lag
install JSGME,
then install mods from your list via JGSME.

Cheers, C_G

Yup, spot on. :D

Drop the antilag files in your main SH5 folder (edit the config file to whatever you need, frames ahead = 2 and cap your fps around 50 or so, based on your rig), overwrite any conflicts and you're done. To use the .exe patcher, follow these instructions: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...59&postcount=6

Use your own judgement about which mods you want - you may not want German voices etc (Stormy's DBSM requires them, so if you want that you'll have to have them), so pick & choose and attempt to keep them in the same (or close to) order as mine or Sober's lists. Ask if you're having trouble.

Essentials in terms of mods are probably:

Magnum Opus
IRAI
FX Update
New UIs with TDC
Open Horizons II
OHII Campaign Radio Messages

... in that order. After that it's up to you which mods will suit. I highly recommend Dynamic Environment, Kapitan Zur See's Hull Wetness & Nozaurio's 7C skin... but everything in my list is worth having :D

Thanks very much Orpheus.
I'm patched up and completed the tutorial yesterday :D

Vanilla SH5 seemed to work OK, but even though the initial comments by my submates were comprehensible (German with Eng subtitles), my Kapitan Rahn's speeches on the pier were not and not subtitled. Not worried about that, but it seemed strange...

I didn't actually find the new interface too troublesome after 10 minutes, in fact I rather liked it (having the mini-map in the left lower corner while still being able to look through the UZO and scope was very practical).

Anyways, onwards and downwards. Tonight patching continues and then onto the 1st glorious patrol to sink some Englander ships :D

Looks really nice already with default settings... I'm looking forward to post-mod graphics.

C_G

Glad it's going well mate! The default SH5 UI isn't so bad... I use the New UIs 'Enhanced SH5 UI' which has all the stock stuff with extra controls for the TDC etc. It's also the default option when installing New UIs so involves less work fiddling with settings ;)

No idea re the Captain's English voice but I'm guessing that part is hard-coded. I've never run a German voice installation from the start (I use the German Voice modpack) so can't confirm if it's a bug or not. I suspect it's nothing to worry about though. ;)

Shout if you need any more help, and good hunting for your first patrol! :salute:

I'm guessing that the Kapitan was mumbling about how he was too old for this gig, looking forward to flirting with frauleins in the harbour bars in his retirement :|\\, and announcing my promotion to Kapitan.

Who the big wig in the rumpled uniform was, I'm not sure. He mumbled too and I blame my lack of comprehension on the 750 ml bottle of Schnapps I guzzled as we crept slowly into the berth at Kiel. :D I suppose he was there to promote me as well and to tell me what a good job I was sure to do in the war, and that he'll be thinking of me as he send out orders from behind his desk at HQ. :DL

Thanks again for getting this Kaleun ready for his new adventures Orpheus... here's hoping Stage II goes as well as Stage I. :)

Orpheus,

I'm hoping you can help me.

I DL'd the D3D antilag files and added them to the SH5 folder.
Then I DL'd TDW v 1.1 of the .exe installer. Unzipped it, and was able to use it to back up my SH5.exe.
I then click on Open. and you wrote:
"It will ask you for a settings file. Point it at the .s5p file that came with the patcher."
It goes to the .s5p file, but I'm not sure what to do at that point... Specifically, I don't see any way to "point it" to the .s5p file. If I click on that file nothing happens...

I don't know Cold_Gambler about "The Good Stuff" :DL + :up: their all great mods and as I'm kinda a Noob about them myself.

With jsgme mod installer your safe to install and uninstall any mod that looks interesting and look it over Safely and make a better decision yourself.

You'll always make a better cal on it yourself than anyone else can. :yep:

Have fun exploreing these mods. Cold_Gambler :salute:

Ok.. in the exe patcher's 'File' menu, where you found the 'backup SH5.exe' option - you've got the 'Open' command, which will open a standard Windows dialogue window.

At the top of the little dialogue window you'll see 'Open SH5 Patch File'. Navigate through your folders and find your TDW_SH5_Patches.s5p. Click on it once in the dialogue window to highlight it and use the 'Open' button down the bottom just like you would if you were loading, say an MS Word file.

It might be the next bit that's confusing you.. once you've done the above and clicked 'Open' on the settings file, it will immediately open another dialogue box that looks exactly like the first one - only this time it will say 'Select SH5 Executable file'.

Find your SH5.exe in the C/Ubisoft/Silent Hunter 5 folder, select and click 'Open' again. This should take you into the main exe patcher menu, which has multiple drop down options. To activate them, double click 'false' in the option you choose to enable and select 'true'. Some of the map colours allow you to choose the colour you want from a standard Windows colour palette.

Hope that helps.. at a guess I think you're pointing it at the .s5p file fine, but because it opens another, almost exactly the same window afterwards to locate the .exe file it could look like nothing happened.. Do let me know if I've got this wrong though!

I also explained it here with pretty pictures. And Welcome guys! :rock:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...postcount=7773

Thanks Orpheus and MIA,

it's my son's B-day party tomorrow so I won't have a chance to get this up and running tonight or tomorrow, but I think your instructions seem pretty clear I *should* be able to proceed.

Success!
Thanks for helping this dumkopf!

My dumkopfery is EPIC!

I can't seem to get TDW's New UI mod to work.
I placed the unzipped files in the MODS folder and enabled it with JSGME but when I fire up SH5 I don't get the pretty dials etc... :(

Any help appreciated :)

C_G

For any mod,after unzipping it and opening the folder, the first thing you see should be a folder called 'data'. If you see anything other than this, you'll probably have to go deeper into the files to find the individual mods. So in New UIs case, you get three folders in the New UIs folder when you've unzipped it: MODS, Dials and Text.

Inside 'MODS' are the multiple varieties of UI - these are the ones that you need to install (drag and drop them to your main SH5 MODS folder). Same with the different TDC dials etc; quite a few mods have this basic filestructure and need individual mods to be 'pulled out' before use. That's probably the problem - but if it doesn't help, let us know! :salute: